The Japanese government is expected to prioritize medical workers and elderly people for vaccination against COVID-19, as work to develop vaccines for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus shifts into full gear.
The “Slow Register” campaign was proposed by Kaori Abe, 53, who runs a city-based nonprofit organization that supports elderlies and people with disabilities. The idea came after older people would often tell her things like, “I take time to take out cash from my wallet, and feel pressured if a line has formed behind me,” and, “I get hesitant to go shopping after people in the line behind me show their irritation.” It’s the first initiative of its kind in the Kyushu region, according to Abe.
“At the care home, Barato Acacia Heights, in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, the cumulative number of residents who have been confirmed with the virus stood at 71 as of Saturday, of whom 15 have died.”
A man in his 70s who lived alone in a residence in Ome City, Tokyo was found dead on May 3 and subsequent investigations revealed that he was infected with the new coronavirus.
Increased calls for staying at home to prevent the spread of the virus has seen older people reduce both physical activity and interactions with friends, neighbors and others, raising the risk of falling into a state of physical or mental frailty.
The man had an underlying condition. He developed pneumonia while being hospitalized at a medical institution in the city of Kushiro, according to sources including the Hokkaido government.
Joint research by a team of specialists from around the world has found that one out of every 5 patients aged 80 or over who contracted the new coronavirus in China has died.
The deaths of the 87-year-old man from Kanagawa Prefecture and the 84-year-old woman from Tokyo raised the number of fatalities in Japan of people infected with the COVID-19 virus to three, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said.
The number of fatal accidents caused by drivers aged 75 or older fell to 401 in Japan in 2019, accounting for 14.4 percent of the total, slightly lower than a record high seen the previous year, police data showed Thursday.
A woman in her 80s in Kanagawa Prefecture has died of the new coronavirus, the first confirmed fatality in Japan, the health minister said Thursday. The government has decided to allow elderly passengers suffering from chronic illnesses to disembark earlier than scheduled if they test negative for the virus.
